Pencil



Aug. 5 nb c. R. KEERAN PENCIL Fired may 4, 1921 `Patented Aug. 5,; 1924.

l STATESA PATENT ori-lcs.

CHARLES E. XEERAN, F CHICAGO, IIIIAIIINOIS.

PENCIL.

Application led May 14,

ToaZZ whom t may concern.: y

vBe 'rt known that I, Ci'ARLEsR. KEERAN,

a citizen of the United States, residin at Chicago, in the ,county ofCook and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pencils, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a pencil havin within itsbody means for propelling a lea through one end, and having at its otherl end means for expelling an eraser. It is an object of this invention to produce a mechanical pencil atsmall cost, to operate the same with'butslight efort, to renew its supply of lead'swith no appreciable loss of time, and to render its entire structure compact and light in weight.v

Air exempliication of my invention is Vshown in the accompanying drawing in the manner following:

lFigure lis a longitudinal section through the pencil wherein is shown an' active lead of nearly maximum length;

Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing .an active` lead of nearly minimum length;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in longitudinal sectionof the parts at thehead end pf the pencil; Fig. 4 is a similar View of the parts which co-operate to propel the lead;

F1g.;5 is an elevation of the lead `propel-` ingllplunger detached from the pencil;

1 6, 7, 8 and 9 are transversefsections through the pencil taken, respectively, on lines 6-6` and 7 7 of Fi 3, 8-8 o Fig 4, and 9 9 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 1s a detail in transverse section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 11 representsy in elevation a plunger of modified construction; and Q Figs.,12 and 13 represenrespectively, a

transverse section and a fragmentary elevation of a still further plunger. p

In the use modification of that herein made of the terijns upper and lowerf it is to be understoodthat I am referring to the pencil as `it isipointed in use-that is, lwith the .eraser end-up, and the writing end down.

``EThe pencil' body A is provided ywith a longitudinal bore 1 5 extending from rend endl-and slightly enlarged as at 16 .for la if :jlinted' distance adjacent it "-wliere 'the walls lare tapered as at 17 in the lform of a truncated cone. Throughout its' lower end 1921. .serial No. 468,860.

upper re `on, this bore is enlarged as at 18l to provi e a' magazine in. which may be received asupply of reserve leads B. Extending'through the axial bore of the pencil is a tube 20 thatmay be round, oval, rectangular, or of any other desired, cross-sectional shape. Surrounding this tube near its lower end is asleeve 2l which extends into the bore enlargement 16, being preferably formedwith exterior serrations 22 (see Fi 9) which friction'ally engage the surroun ing walls of the bod yto providea non- `to serve as a ferrule so'as to protect the adjacent body material which may, ifdesired, be formed of wood.

. A The tube 20, as already stated, is preferably extended for the length ofthe pencil so as to penetrate the space 18 wherein are accommodated'the reserve leads B, the magazine thus formed being annular in shape. At its upper end the Lpencil body is preferably, recessed asat 30 to providea shoulder on which is rested a collar 31 which also is in eriorly shouldered as at 32 to ref yceive a 1 l yite 33 in whichare formedua ura ity o o nings 34 communicating ivith the magazliiie. This plate is further provided with a central aperture 35`through which the upper end of the tube 2O is. en tered, its extremity` bein/ then upset or spun out as at 3'6 to loc the plate, and with it the collar, upon the pencil. Through the openin 34 theA reserve leads B withinl the magazlne may-be removed. ,It is T6- ferred that the collar should^be serrated as v at l37'A where it engages with the' bodyso as to .be fitted 'non-rotatably thereupon.' A The collar is further shouldered on its exterior side as at 40, the walls thereabove be.- ing'threadedat 41 togreceive a sleeve 42 'in which is frictionally held an eraser 43 that j occupies zrposition at the extreme up er end of the pencil. Interiorly the co a`r is threaded as at 44 to receive a plug 45 having a head 46 which underlies the eraser to afford support thereto. By preference the threads 41 exteriorly of the collar are of greater pitch than the interior threads 44 for a purpose to be presently mentioned.

flhe means provided for propelling the ae.- tive lead through the pencil are located within a recess 50 that is formed in one side of the body and which extends through to the tube 2O wherein is provided a registering slot 51. Arranged within the recess is a lever 52, preferably channel-shaped in cross section, and pivotally mounted upon a pin 53 which traverses the body of the pencil, as best shown in Fig. 8. rThis lever is pivoted at its upper end so that its end 54 which hangs downwardly may swing out from the pencil, a finger notch 55 being preferably provided to facilitate this operation. The walls of the recess 50 are suitably formed, as shown, to provide a stop 56 for the lever, so that it nia-y normally lie flush with the body walls.

Associated with the lever is a leaf spring 60 whose lower end is secured thereto as at 61 adjacent the lower end of the lever. By reference to Fig. 10 it will be noted that the opposite walls of the lever are slitted to provide tongues 62 which may be bent around to engage with the spring to hold the same in place, the proximate end of the spring 63 being preferably turned to facilitate its retention upon the lever. The vopposite end of the spring which is unsecured, is bent back upon itself and away from the lever to form a hook 65 which projects through the slot 51 into the tube 20 to engage with one of the teeth 66 of a plunger 67 such as is shown in Fig. 5. if desired, this plunger may take the form of an ordinary threaded rod 68 as shown in Fig. 11, or a square rod 69 toothed on one side, such as is shown in Figs. 12 and 13, lf the latter construction be used, then it is preferred that the tube 20 shouldboe of appropriate cross-sectional shape to co-operate with the rod to prevent its rotation therewith. The teeth or threads in the plunger extend for practically its'entire length,

` except at its upper end where a smooth portion 70 is provided for a reason which-willv presently appear.

ln operating the propelling mechanism of this pencil, the lower end of the lever is pul1ed.out,whereupon the hooked end of the spring executes a circular motion which results in theI toothed plunger being drawn down, the extent ofv such movement depending upon the extent of the arc through which the lever is swung. Upon returning the le- I' ver to its normal position, the hooked end of the spring will vslide upwardly along the plunger to take vup a pos1tion adjacent some tooth that lies above the one which 'was previously engaged. During the movement of of the spring will have moved sufficiently t the lever, the hooked end of the spring which is unsecured may yield as required to pen mit this assumption of a new position relative to the plunger. B v swinging the lever through a suliicient are, perhaps 9() degrees as suggested in Figs. 2 and 4, the hooked end.

to disengage completely from the toothec plunger permitting the latter to be freely retracted toward the rear end of the pencil. The operation, therefore. of refilling the pencil with a new lead simply requires that this lever be swung to the position suggested,

,and that the pencil be turned upside down to remove the plunger, the eraser head being first removed, following which the pencil is reinverted. sci-ted to travel by gravity to the lower end of the pencil. and when all this has taken place, the lever is returned to normal posi- L tion so that the hooked end of the spring will engage with one of the lower teeth of the plunger, thus preventing its movement in a rearward direction.

1t will be noted that the hook at the free end of the spring is bent downwardly and obliqucly toward the plunger so as to engage yieldingly with its teeth or threads to cause an intermittent propulsion of the plunger in one direction only. rllhis constitutes in effect a ratchetmechanism whose operation is not dependent upon the charac ter of the transverse formations in the plunger. ln addition this propulsion is au.- tomatically arrested when the plunger has about reached its lowermost position in the pencil due to the fact that the smooth upper end 70 of the plunger is presented to the spring hook which then slides freely along the plunger if the lever be further oscillated. Owing to this feature of construction the parts cannot be jammed or otherwise injured when the plunger has reached the end of its travel.

The operations just described have to do with the propulsion of the-lead. The eraser may also be propelled outwardly as may be required because of its wearing away in The plungeris thereupon reinuse. To accomplish thisthe sleeve 42 is un- .screwed from thecollar 31, following which the plug 45 is screwed out to a slightly higher position in the collar. rlhe sleeve is then replaced upon the collar. As the head any tendency which the plug might have to revolve during the screwing movements of the sleeve 42, since the `plug should revolve therewith to screw back `into the collar, it will'move only slightly during replacement of the sleeve, thereby affecting to no appreciable extent its newly adjusted psition.

It will be noted that the several parts of this pencil may be produced at very small expense and that its assembly is a very simple matter indeed. The magazine is closed by the removable eraser head softhat all danger of loss of reserve leads is obviated. In addition, the pressure upon the active lead during use is transmitted back through the toothed plunger to the hooked end of the spring in a manner which Atends to close the lever in place-within the slot 50, thereby obviating all likelihood of the leverswinging out of the pencil during use.

I claim: g

l. A pencil having in its body a longitwdinal bore, a toothed plunger slidably arranged within the bore, and means for propelling the plunger comprising a lever pivoted at one end to the body, a leaf spring secured to the opposite end of the lever-and extended toward its pivoted end, the free end of the spring being bent upon itself and away. from the lever to engage with the plunger whereby it may propeltthe same with each oscillation of the lever, substantially as described.

2. A pencil having a body within which is formed a longitudinal bore enlarged at the lower end`of the pencil, a tube extended through the bore and secured to the upper end of the pencil, a sleeve connected with and surrounding the tube ynear its lower end and disposed Within the bore enlargement to constitute a connection between the body and tube at that end, means for non-rotatably holding the sleeve Within the bore enlargement, a portion of the sleeve being extended beyond the end of the body and hav- CHARLES R; KEERAN. Witness: v

EPHRAIM: BANNING. 

